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BUTCH COMEGYS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Adonis Garcia, left, kicks up some dirt while being forced out at second base by Lehigh Valley shortstop Ronny Cedeno as part of a double play Friday night at PNC Field. Lehigh Valley won, 5-2, in 11 innings.

MOOSIC — For 11 innings, the RailRiders and rival Lehigh Valley seemingly battled to determine who could find the most unorthodox way to score the few runs that actually crossed the plate.

In the end, the IronPigs whipped out the suicide squeeze.

On a night like Friday at PNC Field, it worked.

Reserve Tyler Henson brought home the eventual game-winning run in the 11th inning with a perfectly placed bunt up the first base line, igniting a three-run rally and spoiling veteran Alfredo Aceves’ RailRiders debut in a 5-2 IronPigs win.

“We had a lot of opportunities,” manager Dave Miley said. “We just weren’t able to get the big hits. Most of our hits came with two outs when they really didn’t mean a whole lot.

“We’re just trying to get some more consistency.”

Clad in camouflage uniforms to celebrate Outdoors Night and with A&E’s Duck Dynasty star Mountain Man on hand to watch, the RailRiders’ offense mostly was incognito as they started their eight-game homestand. They left 12 runners on base and were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. All night, they had just one leadoff runner on base — Hazleton native Russ Canzler, who singled to start the second — but they couldn’t bring him around. They had a small rally going in the 10th inning after back-to-back two-out singles by Adonis Garcia and Ronnier Mustelier. But Austin Romine struck out to end the threat.

“When we had the opportunities,” Miley said, “we just didn’t capitalize.”

On the bright side, Aceves was strong in his return to the hill.

Aceves went five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out five in his first start with the RailRiders this season. But the IronPigs broke the game open six innings after he left the game, scoring three times in the 11th against right-hander Yoshinori Tateyama, with Tyson Gillies’ sacrifice fly and Clete Thomas’ sharp RBI single that second baseman Jose Pirela could only smother with a dive to his right adding to the RailRiders’ frustration.

Aceves and Lehigh Valley right-hander Barry Enright exchanged zeroes until the RailRiders finally cracked the scoreboard in the fifth — with plenty of help.

After retiring Austin Romine and Carmen Angelini on harmless pop ups, Enright walked Ramon Flores. That turned out to be a critical pass.

Jose Pirela hit a line drive to deep right that seemed ticketed for the pocket of Clete Thomas’ mitt. But the normally sure-handed right fielder somehow lost track of the ball during flight, and it careened off his glove and onto the warning track as Flores sprinted toward third. Thomas recovered quickly enough, but his throw to the infield was also mishandled, bouncing off the top of second baseman Troy Hanzawa’s glove and away from his backup, the first baseman Jim Murphy. As the ball scooted helplessly in the infield grass, Flores darted home with the first run.

It wouldn’t be the end of the scoring. Or the craziness.

Facing debuting right-hander Shane Greene, who relieved Aceves after his five shutout innings, Thomas began making up for his gaffe by punching a double to left leading off the sixth. Former Yankees infielder Reid Brignac tied the score with two out by ripping a first-pitch fastball down the right field line for a double that brought Thomas home from third.

But Lehigh Valley had to wait until the seventh inning to claim its first lead. Fortunately for the RailRiders, it was only a one-run edge.

Right-hander Preston Claiborne battled wildness, walking No. 7 hitter Steve Susdorf and the No. 9 hitter Hanzawa around a sacrifice bunt by Ronny Cedeno. The IronPigs loaded the bases on Tyson Gillies’ sharp, bouncing single to right with one out and the RailRiders’ backs to the proverbial wall.

Thomas followed with his second big hit since his critical error, a hard line drive to right that enabled Susdorf to jog home with the go-ahead run. Hanzawa, hustling around third, tried to make it a two-run lead, but Flores’ throw to catcher Austin Romine beat Hanzawa to the plate for the second out.

The RailRiders made Hanzawa and the IronPigs pay for the out at the plate in the bottom of the inning, not exactly hitting a ball hard while doing so.

With one out against reliever Kyle Simon, Pirela blooped a single to left just out of the reach of the hustling shortstop Cedeno. Zoilo Almonte then hit a slow roller to the right side that bounced off the edge of Hanzawa’s glove and rolled toward right. Hustling around second, Pirela glided into third, giving the RailRiders runners at the corners.

Simon responded by getting the exact type of out he wanted. Russ Canzler hit a pop up behind the first base bag, and Hanzawa ran it down for the second out. But Pirela got a good read on the catch, tagged up and sprinted home, his left foot touching the plate just before catcher Koyie Hill tagged him. The game was tied, 2-2.

It was the last time the RailRiders came through.

Contact the writer: dcollins@timesshamrock.com

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